Cross Country Heads to Penn State for NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals on Friday

Nov 08, 2012

BALTIMORE – After a week off from
competition, but less than two weeks removed from the America East
Championships, the UMBC cross country teams take to the course this
Friday, Nov. 9 for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional
Championships. The women will kick-off the event, hosted
by Penn State at the Blue-White Golf Courses, with a 6,000-meter
race beginning at 12 p.m. with the men's 10,000-meter race
following at 1:15 p.m.

The men's squad placed third at the conference championships in
New Hampshire, the team's highest finish since winning the event
back in 2005. The Retrievers were led once again by
junior Brandan
McGee(Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) who completed the 8K course in
25:55.64 to finish seventh and garner all-conference
accolades. McGee's finish at UNH was the fifth time this
season in which he has led the Retrievers, including a 16th place
finish at the Princeton Invitational when he broke the school
record with an 8K time of 24:45.65. UMBC also received
strong runs from junior Tom
Eldridge (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) and
sophomore Eric
Schuler (Columbia, Md./Reservoir) who placed 15th and
16th, respectively.

In addition to McGee leading the Retrievers five times, Schuler
and junior Vinny
DiSalvo(Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) have also paced
the squad this season. DiSalvo crossed the line in fifth
place overall at the five-mile Towson Invitational on Sept. 21
while Schuler took 18th the very next week at the Mason
Invitational.

For the women, captain Cody
Mezebish (Westminster, Md./South Carroll) led the team for
the fourth time this season at the America East race as the squad
placed eighth overall. Mezebish finished the 5K course
in 18:21.16, placing 33rd overall in the race. Two weeks
earlier in Princeton, the junior set a team, season-best mark for
6K races, 23:03.50, while leading UMBC. Mezebish also
scored in the two meets in which she did not lead the squad, the
season-opening Spider Alumni Open and the Towson Invitational.

Just 17 seconds behind Mezebish at the conference competition,
junior Kirsten McGovern (Sykesville, Md./Century)
has scored in four of the Retrievers' six meets this season,
leading the team at the 5K Towson
Invite. Sophomore Sarah
Daly (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion), the only other
competitor to lead UMBC across the line, did so at the first meet
of the season, hosted by Richmond. Freshman Nicole
Dawson (Jessup, Md./Hammond) has competed strongly for the
Retrievers all season and is the only runner besides Mezebish to
score in all six meets.

The NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships serve as a
qualifier for the NCAA Cross Country Championships which will be
run on Saturday, Nov. 17 at the University of
Louisville. The top two finishing teams at the Regional
will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championships with the
remaining teams placed in the "at-large" pool. A total
of 31 teams will be entered into the NCAA race in Louisville.